Over the past 20 years, the number of programs developed and made available to those incarcerated has grown exponentially. TYRO is here to provide you with information on the top 7 of these programs that are available to everyone incarcerated in the United States.
TYRO Leadership
We may be a little biased, but the numbers show that TYRO Leadership is one of the best programs for people who are incarcerated, or that have been incarcerated in the past. TYRO Leadership has a 2.8% recidivism rate after one year, and 97% report a strong commitment to fatherhood. 90% report a strong feeling of hopefulness for the future after taking TYRO Leadership and becoming a TYRO. Learn what it means to be a TYRO and how to successfully become a person worth looking up to and following within your family and your community. TYRO Leadership is available HERE and can also be taken remotely through Viapath or Jpay as well.
Children of Inmates (COI)
COI helps transform the lives of children of inmates enabling them to achieve happier, more productive lives. They meet them where they are, and care for their unique needs through family bonding, data-driven care coordination, and advocacy. COI helps raise children who have a parent incarcerated to be happy, healthy, and productive citizens to their community.
Prison Entrepreneur Program (PEP)
PEP is a nonprofit organization that connects those who were previously incarcerated with executives and entrepreneurs. Started in 2004, over 1,300 graduates began careers with starting wages 60% higher than the minimum wage, and almost 100% are still employed 12 months after their release. If you know someone who has just gotten out of prison, maybe consider telling them about PEP.
The Delancey Street Foundation
This foundation is a residential self-help program that helps assist drug addicts, ex-convicts, ex-gang members, and those who are homeless. Founded over 40 years ago, The Delancey Street Foundation has helped over 10,000 men and women graduate into society as tax paying citizens that would lead them to a successful and happy life. Other risk factors have also been substantially reduced for participants, including drug use and overall well-being.
Women’s Prison Association (WPA)
WPA empowers women to redefine their lives in the face of injustice and incarceration. Their goal is to forge pathways toward freedom, safety, and independence. WPA provides women with information and resources involving housing, preventative health and education, emergency assistance, employment, and community-based solutions. They have caring and committed staff that listen to each woman and help co-create a vision for their future.
The Sentencing Project
This nonprofit organization has the vision of full inclusion for people with criminal records and an end to extreme punishments. Their aim is to center the leadership, voices, vision, and experience of those directly affected by mass incarceration to make the rationale for systemic change vivid, credible, and compelling. By investing in positive community development, The Sentencing Project looks to prioritize their time and resources into helping their community and ending mass incarceration.
A New Way of Life Reentry
This organization promotes healing, power, and opportunity for formerly incarcerated people by taking a multifaceted approach to mitigating the effects of, and ultimately eliminating mass incarceration. They provide safe housing for formerly incarcerated women, to help them get back on their feet, as well as legal services, advocacy, leadership, and career opportunities.
Check out even more that TYRO has to offer
TYRO has so many more courses to take, starting with Couple Communication. Learn how to develop new listening and talking skills in order to properly communicate issues with your partner. Along with Couple Communication, TYRO also offers a Core Communication course, where you can gain more skills and tools needed to successfully have healthier and more productive conversations with everyone around you. Whether it be your family, friends, or coworkers, Core Communication provides you with great talking and listening skills similar, but different to Couple Communication. TYRO has their own entrepreneurship program as well! Don’t forget about TYRO Job Ethics Training, where you can learn about knowing how to get what you want and recognizing what is worth pursuing. It teaches TYROs how to be successful at work and provides crossover skills designed to make them valuable employees.